By Tony Davis
CASCABEL — The stretch of the San Pedro River that runs behind Anna Lands’ burnt adobe house is mostly dry, or wet only in shallow pools and patches. Some stretches are lined with fallen cottonwood trees killed by drought or knocked over by floods.
The San Pedro is one of the desert Southwest’s finest remaining examples of a streamside riparian area. But near Lands’ house this spring, only occasional stretches carry much water — and even then, it trickles slowly and often appears not to move.
The vast majority of the Middle San Pedro River runs like this during dry seasons. Particularly in dry times like now, it’s uncommon here to see gushing flows that are pervasive in the Upper San Pedro near Sierra Vista. Yet it’s the dry season when the river’s trees, frogs and fish need the “base” flows the most.
